The classical modern period, 1900-1945, saw a great deal of cultural change, and many different composers helped shape the musical landscape of the early 20th century. Browse our sheet music and scores, take a look at our Classical Modern Sheet Music Downloads, and explore the wide world of classical modernism with Stretta Music today
The horrors of World War I brought about such a shift in perspective, that art would never be the same again. The cultural and social changes that had already begun at the end of the 19th century led to new prospects, which were mirrored and expressed through various innovative artistic movements, them sum of which is called Classic Modernism.
During the 20th century, the boundaries of tonality were stretched so far that one could no longer speak of tonal music. The most striking examples of this are polytonality, employed by composers like Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, and Charles Ives, and to an even greater extent serialism, the twelve-tone music of Arnold Schönberg and his students.
The rise of nationalism in the late 19th century sparked a great interest in rediscovering folk music. New technical developments, such as the invention of the phonograph, also made it easier to document and collect folk music. Great folk Pioneers were the Romanian composer Béla Bartók, the Czech composer Leo Janáček, the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály, and the Australian-American composer Percy Grainger.
This development led to a new idiom within classical music, both melodically and rhythmically. Good examples of the integration of folklore into classical modern music are the melodies from Janáček’s Jenufa, which are based on the rhythm and intonation of the Czech language, and Bartók’s Second Violin Rhapsody.
Expressionists aimed to capture true emotions without glossing over them. Above all, they looked at the subjective inner world, in contrast to the outer world, and left all traditional ideals of beauty behind.
Expressionist music is characterised by dissonance, extreme dynamics and great contrasts in colour, pitch and effect. In music, expressionism is generally associated with the Second Viennese School, founded by Arnold Schönberg and his students Anton Webern and Alban Berg, and the dodecaphonic, twelve-tone technique they used, known as serialism.
Examples of expressionist music include Schönberg’s Erwartung, 1909, and Berg’s Wozzeck, 1922.
Another classical modern departure from the ideals of the Romantic Period was to draw on forms and tropes of the Baroque Period and the Classical Period. This was expressed in the use of traditional musical forms, as in Martinů’s Concerto da Camara, 1937, the use of traditional instrumentation, as in Manuel de Falla’s Concerto for Harpsichord, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet & Cello, 1926, and also in the use of thematic material from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, 1920.
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393958
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 393893
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393749
in all major and minor keys
Il Flauto traverso
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 140522
for: Voice, piano
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 696246
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 107023
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 1208093
for: 2 accordions (duet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1208029
for: Piano
Item no.: 356339
Score (hardcover, with musicological analysis)
Item no.: 104710
for: Voice, guitar
Score
Item no.: 347012
for: Voice (tenor/soprano), piano
Item no.: 351869
for: Voice (tenor/soprano), piano
Item no.: 351866
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 351859
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 351789
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) mit Kinderchor und Soli (SBar) und Orchester
Piano reduction
Item no.: 351731
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 351509
for medium voice and piano
for: Voice (medium), piano
Score
Item no.: 351418
arranged after the 2nd organ sonata for brass quintet
for: 2 trumpets (B-flat), horn (F), trombone, tuba
Score
Item no.: 352965
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 352954
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 352857
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 352825
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 297040
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 114420
for: Treble recorder, piano
Item no.: 420808
for: Streich- und Blasinstrumente
Score
Item no.: 287599
for: Mixed choir (SB), flute, strings
Score
Item no.: 287597
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 287595
for: Piano
Item no.: 287589
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 287306
for: Piano 4 hands
Item no.: 273909
for: Soli (ST), gemischter Chor (SSAATTBB), 4 Klaviere, Pauken und Schlagwerk (10-12 Spieler)
Piano reduction
Item no.: 288840
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 288749
for: Singstimme mit Klavier-Begleitung
Item no.: 288677
for: Piano 4 hands
Item no.: 288621
(Editor's copy)
for: Violin, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 288610
Music of Our Time
for: Violin, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 288511
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 288504
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Study score
Item no.: 288497
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Study score
Item no.: 288469
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 288441
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 288400
for: Solo-Bratsche und größeres Kammerorchester
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 288380
for: Piano
Item no.: 288166
for: Piano
Item no.: 288096
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Item no.: 287978
for: Piano
Item no.: 287923
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